According to its announcement, recently Sonderhoff Chemicals received the order from one of its customers to further develop its PU-based low emission gasket Fermapor K31-A-3560-1-LE in accordance with the General Motors GMW 156-34 test standard. After intensive tests by an accredited independent test institute, Sonderhoff received certification that its two-component foam gasket system, Fermapor K31-A-3560-1-LE, fulfills the requirements successfully.

The Germany-based company ensures that its gasket products are free of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and substances that contain solvents. For example, in its test guideline DBL 5452, Daimler prescribes strict limit values for PU-based foam-molded soft-elastic foams. In the guideline the VOC limit value is specified at 100μg, and the FOG limit value is specified at 250μg per 1 gram of PU. The Sonderhoff low emission foam gasket systems satisfy these limit values for soft-elastic open-pore PU foams that are applied as sealing profiles with low pressure mixing and dosing systems from Sonderhoff in the process on the parts.

The emission values are determined by independent institutions in accordance with the German standard VDA 278 (Standard of the German Association of the Automotive Industry: Thermal Desorption Analysis of Organic Emissions for the Characterization of Non-Metallic Materials for Automobiles Current Version, October 2011).

Herein, evaporation of volatile organic components at low temperatures is measured in the form of the VOC value, and evaporation of non-volatile components is measured at high temperatures, expressed by the FOG value (derived from the word “fogging”).